The sitter Francesco Redi (1626-1697) in addition to being Chief Physician to the Medici Grand-Dukes Ferdinando II and Cosimo III and a zoologist, was an acclaimed man of letters, widely renowned as a poet and philosopher. The plethora of his talents was reflected in several medals executed by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi. The sculptor first cast a portrait medal of Redi in 1677 (commissioned by the scholar himself), when he still had to complete his training. Having become an expert medallist, in 1684-1685 he was commissioned by Cosimo III to execute three more medals of Redi, all featuring the same portrait on the obverse, but with different reverses, alluding to his three main talents, to the activities in which he excelled, from poetry to medicine.

With an interesting iconographic and compositive solution, the V&A medal's reverse alludes to Redi's inclinations as a philosopher. Three figures emerge from a bustling rocky landscape, which forms the background of the entire scene. On the le left, the allegorical figure of the Eternity is depicted with the attribute of the globe, placed under her foot, and dressed in robes characterised by flowing, dense draperies, which together with the rocky background contribute to give movement to the scene. With her left hand she points to two columns with an architrave, recognisable perhaps as the font of the Eternity temple by both the inscription ‘AETERNITATI’ (‘Eternity’) in the cornice of the architrave and the presence of the snake biting its tail, an ancient symbol of eternity. With her right hand, the allegorical figure holds out a laurel branch to Minerva, goddess of wisdom and thus also of philosophical knowledge. The goddess kneels on top of the defeated allegory of Time, depicted an old nude bearded man, with wings and scythe.
Redi’s elegant profile stands out on the obverse. Soldani skilfully represented the sitter with accuracy and exressivity. The vibrant hair, outlined in its soft ringlets with extreme skill, the detail of the half-open mouth, the mantle left slightly open in the chest area to reveal a finely decorated shirt they are all aspects that contribute to creating a vivid portrait.

Massimiliano Soldani Benzi (1656-1740) played a major role in the revival of the art of medal in Tuscany. Born in Montevarchi, he moved to Florence in 1675, at the age of nineteen, to train as a sculptor. It was not long before Cosimo III came across some of the sculptor's early works. The sovereign understood that Soldani had the potential to realise his aspirations of relaunching the Grand Duchy's production of medals and coins. From a young age, Cosimo had developed a deep interest in the art of medals, probably also stimulated by the results achieved in this field in capitals such as London and Paris, which he visited during his youth when he extensively toured Europe.
Meeting with Soldani was crucial for the Grand Duke, who was able to put his plans into action. After financially supporting an 11-month apprenticeship at the Old Florentine Mint, Cosimo sent Soldani to Rome in 1678 to train at the Medici Academy under the supervision of the painter Ciro Ferri and the sculptor Ercole Ferrata. There, Soldani was introduced to the medallist Giovanni Pietro Travani to acquire the skills in the art of die-engraving. At the same time, the artist continued to practise wax modelling, a fundamental skill to become a sculptor and medallist. He was also asked to study the drawing with Ciro Ferri practice copying ancient bas-reliefs to develop his ability in designing medal reverses.
In 1682, Cosimo III sent Soldani to Paris for a further training with the Flemish medallist Joseph Roettiers (1635-1703), medallist to the king and master of the French Mint.
After having enriched his artistic background with Baroque suggestions in Rome and the lesson of the elegant French medal-making, he returned to Florence where he established himself as the leader of large cast medals, a genre that enjoyed extraordinary fortune in Tuscany at the time. On his return Soldani was also employed in the Florentine Mint, of which he became Master from 1688.